Adventure Foundhttp://adventurefound.me
“Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.” – Kurt VonnegutFri, 14 Oct 2016 13:34:26 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.6http://adventurefound.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cropped-tent-32x32.jpgAdventure Foundhttp://adventurefound.me
323267757059Hello geocachers…http://adventurefound.me/hello-geocachers/
http://adventurefound.me/hello-geocachers/#respondFri, 14 Oct 2016 13:34:26 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=241So I haven’t done a search or anything. but I feel like we have talked about geocaching before. If not (or you missed that one) let me direct you here. Check that out and come on back.

Lately I have been working with the good folks at Real Deal Brazil on a geocaching team. (Good ahead and check that site out too.) And we are underway! So far there are three of us on the team and we are starting to spread the word.

RDB is doing a couple pretty cool things.

First, as you will notice on their website they have a weekly giveaway for an RDB gift card good towards stuff on their site. Members of the geocache team also have additional codes that can get you addition entries in the drawing, so collect them all.

Second, we are adding RDB wallets and gift cards to random caches where we have team members or where we travel. Now admittedly it will be tough to blanket the US but we are doing what we can! Your best bet is to follow the hashtags listed below. So far there is one in eastern NC and one in upstate NY. Our Kansas team member just go his supplies so I expect on in KS pretty soon.

You can follow RDB on all the social sites and make sure you look for #realdealbrazil and #teamRDBgeocache.

Cache on!

]]>http://adventurefound.me/hello-geocachers/feed/0241Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes…http://adventurefound.me/adventure-comes-in-all-shapes-and-sizes/
http://adventurefound.me/adventure-comes-in-all-shapes-and-sizes/#respondWed, 07 Sep 2016 22:02:31 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=238And this fall adventure has popped in a very unusual way. Late summer I received a phone call from an old business school professor and he asked if I would be interested in filling in for a couple classes. They had a sudden opening and I might be the guy. Why not, I thought to myself and promptly found myself interviewing for a Teaching Instructor position at the University.

Trust me, there is a good deal of adventure in teaching business decision modeling techniques to 90 undergrads with about a month’s notice.

Oh – coming up – some news about Team Real Deal Brazil Geocache and our first prize hide!

]]>http://adventurefound.me/adventure-comes-in-all-shapes-and-sizes/feed/0238And this is what is sounds like when men cry…http://adventurefound.me/and-this-is-what-is-sounds-like-when-men-cry/
http://adventurefound.me/and-this-is-what-is-sounds-like-when-men-cry/#respondFri, 29 Jul 2016 16:33:28 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=234So its 9:15 on a Friday morning and there I am getting my hands wrapped for a workout at TITLE Boxing. If you haven’t tried this you really should. (And the first one is free, too.) If you have tried it, you know what is coming next… the toughest hour long workout I think I have ever done.

Here is the drill:

The first 15 minutes is a warm up. After stretching, jogging, calisthenics, jumping jacks, lunging and squats I thought the workout could be done and it would have been a good day. But no.

The middle 30 minutes is on the bag. This consists of three minute rounds that include basic boxing combinations followed by a one minute active rest. This gives you a break (sort of), while keeping your heart rate up.

And the last 15 minutes is a core workout disguised as a cool down.

I am a middle of the pack athlete. I have done a marathon, several halves and tris (sprint and olympic). I only say that only to say that this wasn’t my first workout, I wasn’t coming off the couch. And this worked out wore me out. Really. But don’t take my word for it. Give it a shot. I dare ya.

And oh yeah, I will never look at boxing the same again.

]]>http://adventurefound.me/and-this-is-what-is-sounds-like-when-men-cry/feed/0234Happy 4th?http://adventurefound.me/happy-4th/
http://adventurefound.me/happy-4th/#respondWed, 06 Jul 2016 10:54:54 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=231I do indeed hope you had a happy 4th of July full of all the things you like to do on a summer weekend. I found a fun thing. A friend of mine organizes a for fun trail run on the weekend of the 4th. Up till now it seems I always had some other commitment and couldn’t make it. But this year the calendar was clear and it seemed time to go. And what fun it was. We gathered at Goose Creek State Park and self selected into distance and pace groups. I chose a middle of the pack 5 mile group and off we went. The park is in good shape and the trails were dry and made for a fun run. There was a bike ride to Bath after the run that I missed the start of owing to being in the wrong place and the wrong time. So I missed that leg of the day.

After everyone had finished their runs and rides we gathered at a picnic shelter for a pot luck cook out. Somehow I got grill duty for the hamburgers and hot dogs. But no complaints so everything must have been cooked through.

After lunch there were options for a swim. I chose to sort of lounge in the cool water while others actually practiced open water swimming. Too much like a workout for me.

All in all a fun way to spend the 4th. I hope you had a grand weekend as well.

]]>http://adventurefound.me/happy-4th/feed/0231Upgrade your weekend…http://adventurefound.me/upgrade-your-weekend/
http://adventurefound.me/upgrade-your-weekend/#respondMon, 20 Jun 2016 14:58:40 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=225It is worth the reminder that not all adventuring takes ton of planning and preparation. Sometimes all wee need to do is shift one part of our weekend to turn it into an adventure.

I reminded myself of that this past weekend.

I felt that I needed a camping weekend but just wasn’t up for a ton of planning and researching. I just wanted to get out for the weekend. So why not camp close to home? I think that since camping close to home and camping far away take about the same amount of prep and packing, etc.that we tend to want to make it worth it. If we are going to pack up the truck then we should go a long distance. But that isn’t necessarily the case.

Goose Creek is a very nice State Park about an hour from me and so I thought that would be a good place for a decompression weekend. And, truth be told, since I wasn’t in planning and prep mode, a Food Lion about 20 minutes from the camp site was a great option. So check the fridge, load the cooler with some stuff, add the camp gear to the truck and Friday afternoon I am off!

Set up was a wonderful time. There was hardly anyone else there, the sites are spaced out in the grove of long leaf pine. Time again slowed to camping pace and the rest of the world retreated. A light rain changed dinner plans to more of a dinner of snacks, but hey, that isn’t a bad idea sitting in shelter, watching the park darken.

Saturday dawned pretty and clear. My plan was to head out to Washington for the morning. First would be a nice breakfast at Rachel K’s bakery (I opted for the Everything bagel and coffee) and then a walk along the waterfront and a visit to the farmer’s market and a stop in at Patty Cakes for delicious goodies). Hopefully the market would provide for lunch and dinner. It was a beautiful morning and there was also the bonus of a car show.

Tail fin road locomotive.Covair made a van?

So now it is lunch time and take out order from Bill’s seemed to be in order.

In line for lunch.

Hot dogs in hand I headed back to the campsite.

After lunch the timing was just right for a nap. Naps are just another great part of camping and the change of pace. After that a bike ride around the park and soon it is time to start the fire for dinner. I did manage to get through the whole weekend without setting up the stove. I was rather happy with that.

Sunday morning was a nice lazy breakfast and then packing up. And I was back home by early afternoon. Plenty of time to get ready for the coming week.

And here is the interesting thing. Sure, I could have done all that stuff without camping, Washington is maybe a 45 minute drive. I can visit anytime. But this visit was different. I came from a camp site and was going back to a camp site. My head was in a different space. I wasn’t thinking about everything I had to do when I got back home. Washington was the same, but I was different. And that is the point, isn’t it. That is why we adventure and that is why we need to not neglect changing our point of view even on stuff that is normal and close to home.

]]>http://adventurefound.me/upgrade-your-weekend/feed/0225Finished standing up…http://adventurefound.me/finished-standing-up/
http://adventurefound.me/finished-standing-up/#respondSat, 30 Apr 2016 13:45:01 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=215Races completed and I finished the way I like to… vertically. One could be picky and wish that I had run the half about 10 minutes faster, but it was Ocracoke and that doesn’t always lead to early nights, if you get my drift. Anyway, to be super racer or anything, but the training plan called for 3 mile run the day before the race, and there was a 5k also, so why not get two tee shirts. A tee shirt and a cause an I will run. (not saying that the beer at the after party is not an influence as well). At the pre-race announcements it was noted that the races raised a bit over $40k for four island charities. Good job all!

The camping was fun. The rain pushed off and only really interfered with camp fire sitting Saturday night. But that was probably a good idea with race in the morning and all. Always good to hang out a the Beachcomber. And as it was the first trip of the year Zillie’s was a must for happy hour (and unexpected bike tire patching). Let’s see… and there was O’Bar, Dajio’s, Gaffer’s and of course Willis Gupton. New to Willis? You gotta check this out.

Rats, now I just want to go back.

OK – off to see if I can find some cast iron to rehabilitate.

]]>http://adventurefound.me/finished-standing-up/feed/0215The start of a new season…http://adventurefound.me/the-start-of-a-new-season/
http://adventurefound.me/the-start-of-a-new-season/#respondMon, 11 Apr 2016 21:01:20 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=212OK technically there really isn’t a racing or camping season. And even if there was, I have done both already in this calendar year. And yet… Ocracoke will always seem like the season opener to me. This will be my 4th year at this race (I wish I could have made the first year so I could have run them all). Race info is here. And you may notice that they have added a half marathon this year. Yeah, I signed up. I am a sucker for inaugural races. And it gets worse. Some how I let myself get goaded into a 5k on Saturday and the half on Sunday. Peer pressure is a horrible thing.

So come on out and race. The best pace to camp is the Beachcomber. The facilities get better every year. it is nice and close to the starting line and after party and it is run by great people.

On a recent Saturday, when the weather was still seasonably warm, I felt like getting out. And since I didn’t have much time, I decided a micro-adventure would work fine. So I headed across the river with cameras in tow to take a hike at a park close to home. Well, more of a walk than a hike really. But still the point was to be outside and maybe get a picture or two. (OK, ended up getting one.)

I know the park pretty well and in fact had run a trail race there not too long ago. But as I walked down the main trail I kept seeing things that I hadn’t noticed when I ran the race. And of course I didn’t. We tend to see what we are looking for. And racing I was looking at the traffic, making sure I was on the right trail, making sure I didn’t trip on anything and so on.

But I was reminded that each trip to a physical place we should remember that we are in a different, well, head space. And that means that even going back to a familiar spot can be a different experience. Don’t skip over the familiar and the known all the time in search of new. Some times we can find the new in the old.

]]>http://adventurefound.me/close-to-home/feed/0207Well begun is half done…http://adventurefound.me/well-begun-is-half-done/
http://adventurefound.me/well-begun-is-half-done/#respondMon, 04 Jan 2016 15:36:59 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=204Or so I seem to recall hearing at some point in my life. And to that end, congrats to the North Carolina State Parks system. I participated in the First Day Hike at Goose Creek State Park and it was a very good hike. The park superintendent was our guide and he passed on some very good knowledge about the park and about their plans for the future. The hike was not too long or too technical and so was enjoyed by a fairly large and varied group. Just a great way to start the year off. Let’s keep this #optoutside thing going.
]]>http://adventurefound.me/well-begun-is-half-done/feed/0204Micro adventure…http://adventurefound.me/micro-adventure/
http://adventurefound.me/micro-adventure/#respondWed, 30 Dec 2015 02:14:02 +0000http://adventurefound.me/?p=202Micro adventure, day trips, what ever you want to call them… just do them.

The weather was so grand over Christmas that I was looking for something to do to take advantage of it. With most of the holiday time spent with family and all that is Christmas, it came down to a micro adventure. And this, as it turns out, is a great way to part with some of the myriad of Christmas leftovers that are no doubt all up in the fridge.

And so on Boxing Day I loaded up some of the leftovers and hopped in the truck for micro. I remembered the county park I had run across in a random adventure over the summer and I was off. It isn’t all that far and it was a beautiful day, so why not take a random route and geocache towards the park.

All in all a great day. Picked up a couple geocaches, had a nice lunch in beautiful weather at the park and home before dark.